Medicine Lake Greenhorn Tour 7/13/14

I was excited to hear that the greenhorn tour was coming to my home lake for the first time.  I have done well on the lake in the past and figured my knowledge would give me a slight advantage.  That's when fishing slaps you across the face for a rude awakening and brings you back to reality.

Practice

I was able to make it out to practice a couple time before I was heading up to cross lake for a week-long resort vacation.  I wasn't able to put much together during practice except a couple good ones on the first visit on a weedline.  I was out with Kyle and Emma and we had a great time.  We found some feathers on the beach and a couple panfish.

The second time out I only caught one pike but was only out for about 3 hours before I headed up to the Whitefish Chain for the week.  I tried all my spots and a couple new ones but nothing was working.  I tried deep, shallow, topwater, fast, slow, everything I could think of.   Nothing was working.  I just assumed it was a tough day and that they would be biting on tournament day.  I try not to let a bad pre fish bother me much since sometimes a good pre fish day leads to a tough tournament and vice versa.

I was putting my boat on the trailer when a guy was standing on the dock started up a conversation.  The entire time I was thinking "how can I politely get out of this conversation?"  Since I was in a hurry to get home and pack up and head out of town.  He was nice enough but he wouldn't stop talking.  He said he was a fishing guide but didn't know medicine very well.  He also said he was from Brainerd but when I told him that's where I was going he asked me how long it took to get there.  And he was standing so close to me I was a little uncomfortable.  Finally I politely told him I had to get home to pack.  I pulled my boat out and proceeded to strap it down when he pulled up next to me.  I'm thinking "oh great, what does he want now?"  He have me his number and told me to call him and we could go fishing together and if we went far we could split gas money.  I was a little creeped out.  In this day and age it's too bad that this kind of encounter has to be viewed with such suspicion but unfortunately that's the world we live in.  I'm not going on any fishing trip with some guy I just met at the boat ramp that I know nothing about.  Especially a long distance trip.

Tournament

We arrived at the ramp at about 5:15 and drew boat number 6.  Which was pretty good considering our track record. We dumped in and waited to get it on.  One guy in the tour has no tournament etiquette.  He pulled up to the spot where you are supposed to dump your boat in but wasn't ready to go.  He was still unpacking and getting ready by the time we were ready to dump in.  So we just went around him and dumped in anyway.  Didn't the fact that everyone was parked in the lot clue him into what was going on.  Then at the end of the day when all the boaters drop off their co-anglers to get the truck, he dropped his guy off and proceeded to park at the only dock spot available.  Everyone usually drops the guy at the dock, then heads back out a little ways to get out of the way and floats around until they see their truck pulling up.  Not this guy.  I wonder if he doesn't know or just doesn't care.  I'm guessing it's the latter.  Then get this.  After he dumped his boat in, he drove around marking fish like way away from where the rest of us were hovering waiting to blast off.  While not illegal, I've never seen anyone actually do it.  I can't pull for a guy like this.  It's just bad sportsmanship.  Rant over.

We started on a deep rock spot where I have had good success in the past.  After a few minutes I felt a good 'thump' and set the hook.  It felt good if it was a bass.  I played it closer to the boat and of course it was about a 4lb pike.  This was a sign of how our day would go.  We worked the area about 30 minutes before we headed shallow to see if we could get some topwater going. 

We headed to a shallow bay with lots of pads and milfoil and began froggin.  After a few minutes with no blow ups, I switched to a punch rig and let Ron throw the frog.  I figured if they started hitting I could join in but I wanted to figure out what they were biting.  After quite awhile with not even a blow up on the frog, I threw a tube craw to the edge of the pads and stuck a good fish.  It was about 3.5 pounds.  It was just enough to keep us in the area for awhile longer but with no more bites.  So this was a good sign but still it was around 9am and we had only one fish in the box.

We moved to a stretch of reeds with a nice weed line nearby and were greeted with noting but pike and short fish.  From there we ran to another shallow area and tried some docks.  Then back another deep rock area that I knew.  Then finally back to one of the bays.

At this point we were pretty discouraged as it was noon and we only had one good fish with nothing to go with it.  I decided to just keep flipping and eventually I would drop it on a bass's head and they would eat it.  After another short, I finally got a bite in the pads with heavy milfoil around it.  It felt like a good one but once we got it in the next and removed all the salad, it was no bigger than 14 inches.  After working the entire bay, we headed off to do a quick check of our deep starting spot, then headed back to where I caught the 3.5 earlier in the morning.

With about an hour left it was all out panic mode and a was flipping every patch of weeds I could see.  I caught another keeper pretty quickly and then another within the next 15 minutes.  Finally with about 30 minutes left I set the hook on a good one.  I got it closer to the boat and it was a freaking dogfish!  Unbelievable.  I haven't caught a dogfish in a long time and I've had 3 in the boat in the last week.  That would have been our limit fish and at least we would have something to go on after a tough day.  But it was not to be.  We worked hard for the remainder of the day and headed to weigh in.  We ended up in 10th place with 7.39lbs.  The winners said they were flipping weeds in 6-8 feet of water with tube craws and worms.  Also some of the better fish came on crankbaits.  

Overview

To say that I was disappointed with our finish would be an understatement.  I have had very good success on Medicine in the past, and was pretty confident we'd get them figured out at some point during the day.  This also ends my streak of 11 tournaments in a row where I've brought in a limit.  I didn't fish an event all year last year without catching a limit, and here it is early July and the streak is over.  I take pride in at least bringing in a limit, and get very frustrated if it doesn't happen.  

In hindsight we should have spent all day flipping heavy cover.  It seemed the bite was off from the get-go, and the fish were definitely not in aggressive feeding mode.  You had to make them bite by dropping a lure on their head or ripping a crank past their face.  I can say that I worked as hard as I could, tried everything I could think of, and sometimes it just doesn't happen.  That's fishing!  And part of why we love it.  If we could figure them out every time, it wouldn't be as exciting when you do.  But I'd certainly like to figure them out soon and cash a check!  Time to take a break, get the boat fixed (steering cable), and re-group for the next Renegade Bassers event on N/S Center and the final Greenhorn Tour event on Goose Lake.  Ron will be fishing the next Greenhorn event on Coon with a sub as it's my wife's birthday that day so good luck to him.  Somehow we are still only 4 points out of making the Greenhorn TOC and still have a chance.  

Results

Weather

Forest Lake Greenhorn Tour 6/22/14

Forest Lake has been a tough nut for me to crack.  In my two previous tournaments on Forest I have not done so well.  Last year while fishing a Thorne Brothers mystery tournament, we only had 2 fish and didn't even go to the weigh in because it was raining and freezing and we were parked at a different launch.   In 2012 we fished a Greenhorn Wednesday series event and finished 15th out of 16 with a paltry 6.61lbs.  Before this year I've only been on the lake for those two events with 0 practice hours logged.  Easy to figure out why I've struggled there.   I was determined not to let this happen again and set out to dial them in with some hours on the lake. 

 

Practice - Saturday one week before with Matty B.

My friend Matty who I iced fish with quite a bit this year joined me for a day of open water fishing.  He has never bass fished before so I was happy to hook him up with a couple rods and give him some tips.  He got one right away on a pop-r but the size was not quite there.  We moved around quite a bit and didn't really figure much out.  One here one there.  Caught a couple on swim jigs and it was usually 2 or 3 at a time but no size.  The weather sucked and was raining off and on.  Finally around 1pm we came out of the protected bay we were fishing and the main lake was blowing like crazy.  I saw the sheriff drive by with his light flashing on his boat and found out later at the ramp that he was driving around warning people that 70mph winds were coming.  I'm not sure if they ever came but we got off the water just in time.  It was a fun day fishing and teaching but didn't really learn much as far as pre-fishing for the tournament.  I'd have to try to come out again and see what I could find.  

Practice -

I headed out the Friday before the tourney early in the morning for a few hours to see if I could put something together.  I forgot to put my plug in which makes for a great start to the day.  Luckily I noticed right when I was pulling it off the trailer.  I had to pull it out. let it drain for a sec and dump back in.  Yes, I was 'that guy' that I like usually make fun of.  I started ultra-shallow to see if the high water from all the rain we've had recently would put them up on the bank.  It did not!  Finally after I was heading to deeper water I caught a decent one on a swim jig.  I checked some docks on the way out deeper with no luck.  I just can't seem to get into dock fishing anymore.  I just don't like to piss off dock owners, get hung up on their dock every few casts, and target fish everyone else are going after.  I know we have a 'right' to do it but it just seems like more drama than it's worth sometimes.  I used to love it and I know there is a time and a place for it and I knew historically Forest Lake docks are typically a winning pattern so I had to check some.  Maybe I'm just out of practice since I do it so seldom lately!  After talking with Ron he said he caught fish on docks, but none with any real size, I didn't think it was a winning pattern this time.  It used to be fun but as I was going down the line of docks my heart wasn't in it so I headed to another spot.  I checked a point, nothing home.  I checked a weedline with awesome looking weeds - nothing but pike.  I headed shallow and caught 2 quick ones on a swimjig on a nothing looking sandy bank.  I think with the high water the shoreline had washed out underneath the cattails giving them a place to hide.  I continued shallow and caught a few in an area with pads / reeds.  One was decent so I left it and headed deep again.  Right when I was about to leave I set the hook on the best fish I'd ever caught out there.  About a 3 pounder!  I wanted to explore the area further but I had to get to work so I took off.  I found a few decent areas and certainly felt better than I did before.  I didn't have any 'go-to' areas but a few decent areas where we could rotate.
 

Tournament Day
It was Ron's turn to draw boat number since I've drawn boat number 14 last time, and last for the previous one before that.  He didn't fare much better, we drew boat #15.  Not a huge deal since we didn't really have a set starting spot anyway.  We started in a small bay with pads, reeds, and shallow grass.  We started a ways out from the pads and I cast my senko towards the pads into the shallow grass.  Immediately something exploded on it!  I was surprised because it was the first cast and can't say that I get many hits like that on a senko.  I waited a second and set the hook.  I felt weight and made a few cranks and then nothing.  It came off.  Nothing but a bunch of weeds on my hook.  We continued to work the area with frogs, swimjigs and senkos with no luck.  Finally we were headed out of there when Ron stuck a keeper on a pit boss. 

Then we headed out to the deep weedline which was about 10 feet.  We worked it for awhile and I finally hooked into keeper number two on a tube.  While Ron was putting the cull tag onto it I cast to the same spot and set the hook again!  A couple casts later keeper number 4 was in the box.  While Ron was weighing the fish and putting them in the box, he had the trolling motor keeping us locked on the spot, and his line was still out and got tangled in the prop.  While he got it untangled we drifted off the spot and couldn't find it again.  In the meantime another boat came up and blocked us from continuing down the weedline so it was time to make a move. 

We headed to another shallow area with reeds, pads, and cattails.  Basically it was our main area that has produced for both of us in the past.  I got hit pretty quickly and boated a 2 pounder, our biggest so far.  We continued to work the area with everything we had, including punch baits and jigs up the cattails.  With the flooding and high water we've had because of all the rain, there was plenty of water deep into the weeds.  Ron caught another keeper and we were culling by 9am.  Which was a good start compared to previous events on this lake.  I continued punching in the cattails and Ron said he wanted to try that as he's never done it before.  On cue, his first flip into the heavy weeds yielded another nice keeper even though I don't think we culled with it.  Flipping heavy cover is one of my favorite ways to catch em and I was jealous I couldn't get one but glad Ron did.  We ended up catching a ton of fish the area but not much size.  We probably had around 7-8lbs and figured we needed at least 10 for a decent finish. 

Back out to the deep weedline where I caught a good one in practice, tons of bait fish busting the surface but nothing but one small bass.  So far deep and shallow were about the same as far as weight and numbers.

Off to another deep weedline out of the wind.  We ran in and hit the reeds that were close with no luck.  Entire way down the weedline not so much as a tap.  I had broken off 3 times on what I thought were pike.  But my line sounded funny coming out of my micro guides so I started to suspect maybe something was wrong with my rod.  I rigged my Texas rig set up onto a different rod with braided line.   Just when I suggested we make a move, I got a tap and set the hook on another 2+ pounder.  It was bleeding all over the place but it eventually made it to the weigh in alive.  We made a few more casts in this area but came up empty. 

A storm was coming so we decided to move before it started pouring.  Too late!  By the time we started the engine it was raining hard and it made for a difficult boat ride.  We went back to the weedline where we started.  Nothing but pike biting here so we had a decision to make.  We only had about an hour left.  The rain had pretty much stopped.  Should we grind it out here or make a move?  We decided to head back to our most productive shallow area to end the day. 

Once we got there I threw a senko way up into the reeds and the line immediately started pulling tight.  I set the hook and it got wrapped around a big clump of reeds.  I kept pressure on but I didn't feel anything.  I started to tell Ron to go in and get it when it freed itself up and I quickly got it to the boat.  It was another 2 pounder and a decent cull.  I had a couple more bites but couldn't connect.  With time winding down it seemed like the area was heating up.  Unfortunately I couldn't seal the deal on anything that would help and it was time to head to the weigh in.  

While I was waiting in line to pull Ron out of the water, I could see the weigh in and noticed a couple pretty small bags.  I didn't feel very confident that we would get a check, but maybe we would be close.  We ended up weighing in 9.93lbs good for 6th place.  Which was also good enough for 1st place bonus bucks team and $90.  Always good to win something!  

Overview

It was another grind out there.  No real pattern and only one fish here, one there.  But on the bright side it was my best day on Forest Lake so far.  We caught a lot of fish just not as many big ones as we needed.  Almost 10 pounds on Forest is not horrible, basically one 4 pounder out of 1st place.  It was finding that 4 pounder that was the problem...  Not sure if I would do much differently except maybe moving around a little more often and just giving each spot a few casts and only settle in once we caught one.  I wish I would have seen the fish I missed on my first cast, as it sounded big and may have helped.  Also if we had a few more minutes in our last area I bet we could have added another pound or two.  But i'm sure it would have helped others as well.  I'm satisfied with the finish, I always want to win but having such a bad history on this lake gives me confidence down the road to be able to compete.  Next up is Medicine Lake and i'm hoping we can stay on the right track!

White Bear Lake Greenhorn Tour 6/8/14

Practice on Memorial Day With Emma 

Water Temp = 67 - 70 degrees
Bass shallow.  Caught some right up on the bank.  Pretty sure they were in full spawn mode.  Saw some Smallies roaming shallow.  Caught one good largemouth on watermelon senko. 
Deep weeds are coming in.  5-7 feet.   Not much shoreline structure, lots of rocks.  Saw a bunch of big carp up shallow in some areas.  We went swimming / wading near an island.  Couldn't find many sunnies for Emma.  Next time we need to bring some real worms instead of the Berkeley stuff we've been using.  Got to spend some quality time with my daughter and familiarized myself with the lake as I'd never been there before. Caught some fish too!  Bonus....

2nd Practice Day

I had the chance to pre fish alone for just a few hours one morning.  I decided to hunt for some brown bass early with topwater in a likely smallie area with lots of rocks.  I started with a spook and caught a small largie fairly quickly.  I kept working the spook when I got a monster blow up.  I debated throwing the senko in there but decided to throw the spook back instead.  It barely hit the water when it was inhaled by a beautiful 4 pound smallie.  I just left the area and added it to the top of the list for tournament day.  Searching for deep weeds was next on my list.  Everywhere I went there was bait and sunfish busting the surface.  I couldn't get any bites on moving baits I had to slow down with a tube or senko.  I found a couple decent areas with not much size though.  The last spot I checked on I caught a chunky 3 pound largie on a tube.  I had a dead starting battery so I had no electronics and had to jump my starting battery with the jump box every time I wanted to move.  I just stayed in the bay near the access and used the trolling motor for the most part.  Turns out my battery charger was dead and didn't charge the starting battery but there was enough juice for the trolling motor.  My take after practice was that if the Smallies were biting we would be ok.  I had a couple decent areas and was hoping Ron did too.  Looking at past results I figured 12 pounds would get us a check.

Tournament Day

This is our first Greenhorn tournament of the year with my new partner Ron Mohr.  I fished the Wednesday night Greenhorn series two years ago and it was a pretty well run series with minimal cost.  We would be using Ron's boat which is nice because all I have to focus on is catching fish.  And it's a lot nicer than mine and faster too!  I don't mind fishing out of the back of the boat, the only problem is trying not to bring too many rods.  He did well in his Thursday series last year and I did well last year so we figured we'd make a formidable team. 

The day started with a fog delay.  It always sucks to have a delay when you are all pumped up and ready to go.  But I understand that it would be totally unsafe to blast off in those conditions.  We started throwing topwater in the area where I caught a nice smallie in practice.  Nothing doing.  We ran over to one of Ron's areas and worked it hard for awhile.  This was a popular area as there were at least 2 other boats nearby.  We threw the book at these fish.  Topwater, moving baits, tubes, and finally I decided to slow way down.  I got bit on a watermelon wacky rigged senko.  It was a nice smallmouth just over 2 pounds!  Finally after almost 2 hours we had a fish in the boat.  We worked this area awhile longer without another bass. 

We headed to a deeper area that I found in practice.  After a few casts I set the hook on a keeper on a tube.  Nothing big but at this point we had to put keepers in the well.  We continued to work the area until we finally had a limit.  Not much weight but plenty of time to upgrade. 

We decided to move shallow and see what we could do.  I caught another wacky fish in a small bay that was good for a small upgrade.  There was a canoe near us that we were trying to let by, but they kept adjusting to whatever we were doing and blocking us off.  They saw me catch one near a dock and immediately moved in to the other dock and put their anchor down.  Then when we started moving out they blocked off the reeds we were gonna hit.  It looked like they were fishing for dinner so they clearly had priority over us. 

We headed to another area with docks and shallow weeds.  It was almost noon at this point and things were looking pretty bleak.  We probably had about 8 pounds and time was winding down.  We were getting frustrated because we hadn't had many ouldn't figure them out. 

I decided that a reaction bite was the way to go since they weren't eating anything we threw.  I tied on a rat-l-trap and proceeded to try to get it stuck it the weeds and rip it out. This worked for two small bass and a pike. 

Then we ran back to the area where we caught the smallie earlier in the day.  Nothing home.

We decided to had back to the deep area where we had the most success so far and finish the day there.  We caught a few small fish and got our hopes up on a couple of pike bites but no significant upgrades.  Time to head to the weigh in. 

The 1st bag we saw weighed in was 16lbs all Smallies!  We weighed in 8.2lbs pounds ended up 13th out of 18.  If we could have scraped together one more pound we could have moved up 5 spots, it was pretty tight in the middle of the pack, every ounce counted.  At least we caught our limit and we weren't last.  A lot of people struggled and a few found em and put the smack down.

There was some drama at the boat ramp as a guy dropped his Larson boat on the ramp.   I was in line waiting and I saw him up there dicking around with his boat for like 10 minutes when he pulled the boat out and obviously forgot to take his trailer straps off.  I didn't see what happened next but I heard about it pretty quickly.  Ron came up to the truck and told me that when he headed back down the ramp after taking the straps off he didn't quite make it in the water.    He had roller bunks and didn't connect the front strap and he pulled up so far that after he disconnected the trailer straps and tried to back in, the boat slipped of the trailer and onto the ramp.  Apparently his trailer came off the ball and ended up in the back of his suv.   Some guys from the tour helped him slowly winch it back into the trailer with a hand which that someone had with them.  I also heard that the lady driving the truck almost ran over some helpers when the told her to pull up a couple inches and she went a couple feet.  Once they got it back on the trailer he actually asked if he should just put it in the water.  They suggested he take it out to inspect.  I pulled up next to him after pulling Ron out and his lower unit had a big hole in it and the oil was draining out the ground.  He was asking someone for a plastic bag and I had one so I gave it to him to try to catch some of the oil in.  As he drove away the boat was sitting very crooked as well.  What a mess!  I'm sure he was rushed because there were at least 15 trucks and trailers waiting in line for him.  But still no excuse for that.  It proves that anytime you rush most of the time it takes you longer and you make mistakes, sometimes major mistakes.

Overview

Sometimes things just don't go as planned.    It was a lot tougher day than I expected.  The fish didn't really tell us any kind of pattern seemed like one here one there.  Our best pattern was fishing the tube on a Texas rig slowly lifting it off the bottom in areas with weeds 8-10 feet.  The 3rd place finishers said they were catching them in 16 feet so I think we were fishing too shallow.  Looking back we should have spent more time targeting Smallies.  This is the 2nd tourney in a row where I kind of thought Smallies would win it but gave up on it too quickly.  I've decided that from now on anytime there are Smallies in a body of water that I'm going for them, especially in the spring.  I also didn't get to put in as much time as I like when practicing.  I like to get at least 2 full days in but that just didn't happen this time.  Things change so fast in the spring that you have to be able to adjust to the conditions and today we didn't do a very good job of it.  So what I take way from this is:  Always target Smallies in the spring if they are present, and fishing deep early in the season is an option.  On to Forrest lake, not one of my favorites but looking forward to trying to figure it out.

Weather

Results

Lakes Washington & Stella Renegade Bassers 5/31/14

Practice

MN Bass Opener.  We started off heading to Stella to try to find some smallies but no luck.  Three hours without a bite.  Kyle finally caught a small largie on a dock.  We decided to had back to Washington and try to figure out something else.  It was pretty windy so we decided to hit the windy shore, caught one dink on a spinnerbait.  Finally we had to get out of the wind and we ducked into a protected bay.  Finally we saw some activity.  We saw some beds and quickly realized we had been fishing too deep.   I rigged up a frog just to see if I could get them to show themselves.  I caught one fairly quickly on the frog.  Then caught a decent one on the senko.  We scouted for beds and looked for other similar areas and had some pretty good success.  We checked some deeper areas without a bite.  I decided to give up on Stella in hopes of finding a decent limit of largies in the productive areas before they get beat up.

We'll see how it works out...

With Kyle Rodriguez.   Water Temp 64-69.  Fish caught 7 or 8.  Krod=1.  Frog, senko, swimjig, spinnerbait.

Tournament Day

We have had very warm temperatures all week and I knew things would be different and the fish would be on beds or already done spawning.  Water temp My plan was to hit my primary areas on Washington and if I had 10 pounds or more I would go searching for brown bass in Stella.  We launched from the south access on Washington Lake at 6 am.  I was second to last boat and turned out last boater couldn't make it so I had the pleasure of directing everyone at take off.  On my way to my starting spot I immediately saw a bunch of vegetation that wasn't there during practice.  I got to my area and was slightly surprised that no one was there.  I started throwing rebel pop r and immediately got bit before I even twitched it.  It was a decent fish so I was pretty pumped.  I continued to fill out my limit within the next 30 minutes with the pop r, swim jig, and senko.  I moved on to my second area after the bite slowed and working the same pattern I had around 10lbs by 7:30 or so.  When I went to make a move to my next area, someone was already heading in there.  It was pretty obvious there was plenty of fish in the 16-17 inch class and finding a 4-5 pounder might be challenging.  I figured my best bet was to go Smallie hunting so I headed over to Stella.

I caught a small one fairly quickly but nothing else.  I made a move and saw a few other boats fishing close to the shore.  I decided to try something in the 6-8 foot range.  I finally hooked into a decent Smallie on a tube.  It was about a 3 pounder.  It was good to finally catch one but it would be the only one.  I saw a few more but couldn't get them to bite.  I worked the area for quite awhile without another keeper and the sky was looking pretty bad.  I decided to had back to Washington and look for some more largies.  I didn't really want to be stuck in Stella if a bad storm came and it's not like I was crushing em anyway.

When I got back to Washington it started down pouring right when I pulled up on my spot.  I fished some docks during the rain with no luck and once the rain stopped I headed to a small bay that I wanted to check earlier.  I caught one on a swim jig that was a small upgrade.  I had been catching fish at pretty much every spot but they were all the same size!  The sky looked pretty bad again and I wanted to hit an area by the launch before others got there.

I hit a quick lay down on my way in that I had caught a decent one on earlier, but no one was home.  I headed back to fish some reeds by the ramp.  I drove right through them because they weren't up yet when we were there last weekend.  Right when I put the trolling motor down the rain came again.  This time there was thunder and lightning.  I caught probably 5 more fish all the same size with one small upgrade.  Eventually there were 5 or 6 boats fishing in the same area and I was  waiting for someone to make the move so I could go in I didn't want to be the 1st one.  It was about 1:30 by this point and I didn't feel like a was going to find that kicker during this downpour anyway.  Finally a loud thunder clap and close lightning sent most of us in a few minutes early.

At the weigh in I could tell right away taking to people that I was in trouble.  I heard rumblings of 15lb bags.  I thought I did fairly well and that maybe my 3lb smallie would help propel me to a decent finish.  I was hoping that everyone struggled and was having the same problem with the same size fish.  I knew someone would smoke them, they usually do.  And you can never be sure until the fish are weighed.  I knew I had at least 10 pounds maybe 11 or 12 at the most.  I ended up weighing just over 13 pounds and had 1 dead fish good enough for 10th place.  Wow, I think the days of catching 10 pounds for a decent finish are over.  13 pounds gets me 10th place.  We sure have a good group of sticks.  And some of our top guys didn't even finish well.  It's not horrible but since I'm not fishing all the tourneys this year, it puts me in a tough spot.  Time to step up my game I guess.  Congrats to Ozzy on the win and big bass with 17 pounds and a 4 pound smallie!

Overview
Well, I caught plenty of fish.  It was a blast.  Any day besides tournament day and I would have been extremely happy.  I should have concentrated more on finding more Smallies.  I didn't spend enough time out there to realize there were not many 3+ pound largemouth.  I had a feeling that Smallies were going to take it but I let the comfort of a limit blind me to stick with what I knew it would take to win.  Also I assumed most of the guys were going to go after Smallies and sometimes I just want to do something different because I don't want to fight for spots.  Live and learn!

Results

Weather

Farm Island Lake Renegade Bassers 7/21/13

Practice-

I had a chance to check out Farm Island lake in June while on vacation. Kyle Rodriguez and I spent a few hours looking around and familiarizing ourselves with the layout. There was many options and plenty of water. We caught a few fish, mostly good size and a nice bonus smallie before we headed back to the resort.  

On tournament weekend I spent most of my time on Bay Lake but headed out to check some stuff on Farm Island Friday afternoon. Jesse Cermak would be fishing with me on Sunday and was on his way up after work. I told him to call me when he got there and I would come and pick him up from the dock. My first order of business was to see if I could get through a drainage pipe near one of the accesses. I was pretty sure if I could get back there I would have it all to myself. It looked like I would fit but it would be tight. I pulled up to it slowly and got out the oar and cleared my rods from the holders. The opening was wide enough and I fit easily. Then suddenly I noticed it was getting smaller the father in I went. And the current from the wind was pushing me in faster than I anticipated. Crap, my trolling motor and big motor were raised up and I wasn't able to stop the boat with the oar because of the wind. Eventually my trolling motor and windshield started to scrape on the top of the culvert. I was struck and risking more damage to my boat with each minute. I didn't want to call anyone because they would take to long to get there and it would be embarrassing. The current going through was pretty strong because of the wind and I had to go against it to get out. I got down on my back on the front deck and put my feet up against the top of the pipe and pushed the boat down in the water and slowly pushed my way out. It was a tedious process but I finally made it out. Guess I wasn't going to the secret honey hole on the other side.

I took a minute to catch my breath and headed back to fish near the resort and wait for Jesse to call so I could pick him up.

Eventually Jesse arrived at the resort and he loaded up and we headed out to fish for an hour or two. It was nice to officially meet Jesse since he was a new member to the club this season. Usually the best way to get to know new members is on the water fishing since it's just you and them in the boat and you have time to chat. When I was new I felt like I didn't really know everyone until I fished with them and we got to share stories all day. The fishing was extremely slow. I think we maybe caught one keeper before we decided to head in to the resort and hang out.

Tournament -

Farm Island Day 2 didn't start out very well.  I was asking people which launch they were using but no one seemed to know for sure.  I'm not sure why people weren't using the ramp at the resort but I had no problem launching my small boat there.  I planned on doing that and just driving over to the take off site since the weigh in was at the resort anyway.  Last thing I heard we were using the launch near the culvert I was stuck in on Friday.  So we launched from the resort and headed over to the take off site.  I knew something was wrong when we got within sight and no one was around.  They left before we launched so they should have been in the water at least.  I quickly called John to see what was up and they said they were all waiting for me at the other launch.  Damn!  I was 'that' guy.  I got there as fast as I could and since I was 2nd to take off, I had to just turn around and keep going.  Usually I am there with plenty of time to spare to eat some breakfast and relax and make sure everything is good to go.  Not today!  I wasn't even sure where to start. 

We decided to start in a shallow area where I had a few frog blow ups in practice.  We gave ourselves plenty of space before we got to the reed point.  We turned back into the bay around the point and I immediately got a fish on a buzz frog.  About a minute later I had another one on.  We ended up spending the next hour in this bay and both got our limits.  Jesse was throwing a tube to the deeper edges and catching fish consistently.  I was throwing a frog mostly except I got one that missed the frog on a follow up with a senko.  Finally the bite died off and we headed to some deeper stuff. 

We went to a deep under water point near the resort and I got a good one right away.  Jesse hooked into what looked like a giant smallie from a distance as it jumped and looked dark and brown.  As it got closer I was ready with the net and it ended up being a huge dogfish!  Next thing I know Jesse asked to use my pliers because he dropped his in the lake because the dogfish lunged at him.  I gave him a hard time and said he couldn't because I didn't want him to drop mine in the lake.  Eventually I gave them to him and he got the fish off with pliers in the boat.  We made a couple upgrades but mostly had all 15-16 inch fish all cookie cutters exactly the same size. 

We briefly tried some docks and then ended up back on a weedline where I caught a good smallie in practice.  Same deal not much upgrading but plenty of fish.  From there we tried a couple different spots but couldn't find any significant upgrades.  We ended up near the resort and headed to the dock at 2pm for weigh in. 

This weigh in was cool because we didn't have to pull our boats out of the water we could just park at the dock and bring our fish up the hill.  And I could just pull my boat out right there and throw the rest of my stuff in the truck and head back home.  Normally we have to pack in the morning because check out time is usually noon out before.  But the resort had no reservations for the next day so the owner said we could stay and have the weigh in there.  Also some people from the resort wanted to see what the weigh in was all about and what we caught.  I ended up weighing in with 10.31 lbs and Jesse had 10.26 lbs.  Talk about cookie cutters, all the fish we caught were the same size.  I ended up in 7th place and Jesse 8th.  My big bass was 2.60lbs.  A 4 pounder would have gone a long way in this event.  Congrats to Walker for the win and big bass sweep of the weekend.  He caught one that was 4.02 and the next biggest was 2.90, not many big fish in the lake, but the numbers were there.  Again it was tight with 3 pounds separating 1st from 12th place.  I was just happy to get out of the weekend without bombing, and in a good position for the state team and AOY. 

Overview-

I was pretty satisfied with the day as I was one good fish from 1st.  We could have tried some more docks and maybe some other deep points.  I wish I had more time to practice but its hard on the out of towners with everything else going on.  I can tell that every once will count as there are a lot of good sticks in the club and competition will be fierce.  Next time I will make sure I check more thoroughly as to where the launch site will be especially if I'm doing something differently than everyone else.  I'm glad I didn't let it get to me too much and throw me off my game.  It was also fun getting to know Jesse better and hope to draw him as a non boater next year. 

Results

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Bay Lake Renegade Bassers 7/20/13

The out-of-towner tournaments are always a fun time.  It's pretty much a chance to hang out with a bunch of like minded guys who love bass fishing and fish and talk crap for 3 days.  Last year I bombed during the out of towner both days and that set the tone for the rest of the season.  I was determined not to let that happen again.

Bay Lake would be day 1 and Farm Island day 2.

Practice-
I arrived for the out of towner late Thursday night so I could be out on Bay Lake early Friday morning. We were staying at the Summer Breeze Resort and Ryan Ploof rode up with me after our softball games and we shared fuel costs which was great.  We hung out with the guys until pretty late.  The resort was nothing fancy but the price was right to be located right on Farm Island Lake which was our day 2 lake.  The only problem was there was no air conditioning!  I didn't realize this until we got there.  Thank God it was going to be reasonably cool for the next couple days, especially for mid July.  I got a little grief about it since I'm the one who arranged the accommodations but in the end I think it worked out fine.

I woke up early on Friday and was tempted to shut off the alarm and go back to bed.  Especially since it was already pretty windy out.  I decided to spend most of the day on Bay since I had never fished there before and had been out on Farm Island last month.

I started near the launch with some moving baits because of the wind.  I worked my way down to a small slop bay that was semi protected from the wind.  I ended up getting a couple blow ups on a frog and then headed off to find some other areas.  There was many bays (hence the name off the lake) and lots of water to cover.  I decided the best approach was to tie on a spinner bait and cover some water.  It wasn't long before I hooked into a good one.

I would basically catch 1 or two fish and mark the spot with a waypoint on the GPS and move on.  With only one day of practice I just had to find areas that held fish and hope to get the right bites on tournament day.  Plus with the tournament the next day I needed those fish to bite then, and didn't want to wear out each area.  I scouted out lots of water and dialed it into a few weed lines and some bays for frogging.


Tournament-
I was fishing this event solo and decided to start near the take off.  I worked the shallows thoroughly with no luck. I headed to my next area with no luck as well.  I finally found a keeper up shallow.  I hoped I had found a pattern but only caught one fish up shallow.  I just kept moving until I found some fish and eventually I did.

I fished a point near a buoy where I hooked into a good one.  I thought for sure it was a pike by the way it was pulling under the boat.  Also I hadn't felt any bass fight that much on this lake yet.  It finally came up and I got the net under it.  It was a good bass!  I thought it was about a 4 pounder but the scale didn't agree.  I was jacked because I thought that would be one of the better fish caught that day.  By this time I had a decent limit and went to try to find some upgrades.

Frogging yielded a few bites but nothing that helped.

Docks weren't producing any kickers either.

I moved back and forth between my most productive areas with only small upgrades.  It seemed like the longest day ever, maybe because I was solo and had no one to talk to.  Or maybe because I couldn't find a kicker and I covered so much water.

Finally, it was getting close to weigh in time so I headed back to my shallow spot near the access.  I was hoping to flip a kicker in the milfoil.  I got a few bites but nothing that would help.  Finally with about 10 minutes left I felt a good 'thump.'  I set the hook and made a few cranks and it came unbuttoned.  I didn't see it but it sure felt good.  I think it would have helped but can't be sure.  Time to head in.

It ended up that I finished in 9th place, with 10.43 lbs.  My big fish weighed 2.89lbs.  I can't believe that fish wasn't over 4lbs.  I am not the best when it comes to guessing weights but I would have bet anything that fish was over 4.  Oh well, guess my eyes were playing tricks on me.  Now looking back at the picture I think I got a little over excited, which is why I like to guess on the conservative side.  I did have a dead fish too not sure what happened there.  This would end up being my worst finish of the season which is great because 9th place is still in the top half of the club.  This out of towner was much better than last year's!

Overview-
It was a fun lake with lots of fish just not many big ones.  That kind of fishing is fun for awhile until you need a bigger bite and just keep catching the same size fish over and over.  I always wonder in lakes like this if people kept some of the smaller fish if that would help produce bigger ones.  I wish I had more time to practice but that's how it goes.  It's tough to get away to practice for lakes that are two plus hours away.   Its also tough to get dialed in practicing for one day the day before.  But it's the same for pretty much everyone else so it's an even playing field.  I just feel like if I could squeeze in any extra practice it would give me a slight advantage.

I'm not sure what else I could have done, I definitely fished hard and left it all out there.  I guess the only thing I could have done differently is fished where the big ones were.  The weedlines were producing pretty good and shallow areas were good too.  Who knows?

Results

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Sylvia / Twin Lake Renegade Bassers 6/30/13

Practice
I didn't have much time to practice for this event since I was out of town the previous week and the Medicine Lake tournament was the day before. I had only fished the lake one other time as a non boater a couple years prior. But I wanted to get out there once for sure and at least take a look around and get comfortable navigating the lake. I decided to go through the channel and start on the opposite side and work my way back. I started near a reed island and worked around the bay with some decent success with swim jigs and senkos. The water was gin clear. I caught plenty of fish but most of them were small. I explored the other basin for a couple hours and headed out. I wasn't completely confident but at least I had some ideas.

Tournament 
I was lucky enough to fish this tournament with Mike Juskiewicz, one of the best guys in the club. It's always a fun day on the water with Mikey no matter how the fishing is, and today would be no exception. We had a blast fishing Big Marine last year and I was looking forward to fishing with him again.

We went straight to the reed island in the far lake and saw Nick Madison fishing nearby and debated going to a different area. He was fishing off the island a little deeper so we decided to give it a shot anyway and if he moved in towards the reeds we would leave. We worked the back side of the island and close to where Nick was fishing with no bites. By this time Nick had moved closer to the reeds and was setting the hook on a fish every time I looked at him. We didn't want to encroach on his area, plus we weren't getting any bites so we headed to a small bay nearby.

We worked the shallow stuff with no action until we came to the point which dropped off fast. Man the water was clear! You could see every thing from the boat to the back from 100 yards away. I finally got my first keeper on the point on a drop shot. We caught a couple shorts, then moved over to another bay.

This far bay was my best area, as I saw a lot of activity in there in practice. We stayed back and worked the edges with no luck, then moved in shallower into the slop. It was a lot tougher than it was in practice and I was thinking of how to adjust. Did we need to fish deeper? Shallower? Docks? I was just heading out of the slop to deeper water when I saw a nice bass swimming by the boat. I grabbed my senko thinking 'This fish is never going to eat this when he's this close to the boat.' I dropped my senko down and he ate it immediately! It was a 2 1/2 pounder. I felt a little better and we worked the area a while longer with no success. I think Mike had 4 fish by this point and I needed to catch up.

From there we went to the opposite shoreline to work some docks. I was up front working the trolling motor and saw Mikey set the hook on a fish and bring it in the boat. I was focused on trying to get my next fish and not really paying attention when I heard a 'splash.' I turned around to see Mikey with his hand up looking into the water. The fish came off and jumped back into the lake! I tried not to laugh but it was hilarious! He was just shaking his head. It wasn't a giant but pretty sure it would have been his limit fish. From there we headed through the channel back to the other basin where we would spend the rest of the day.

We moved back and forth between a few weedline spots and I scraped together two more fish. Nothing was working that I found in practice. I was switching baits often and trying deep as well as shallow. I thought this lake would be similar to the Sugar Lake tournament in that there would be plenty of fish but not many big ones. Apparently the fish didn't get that memo as it wasn't working that way for me. I caught a couple short fish but not many. Mikey ended up getting his limit somewhere along the line and and I don't think the fish he lost came into play. He was making small upgrades as well.

I had another bay spot similar to the one in the other basin that I was sure I could get my 5th fish from but just ended up catching shorts on a frog and senko. Time was winding down and I didn't even have a limit. We ran back to a spot where I thought I could get another one on a weedline and finally, with not more than a half hour to go, I caught my 5th keeper on a jig.

Back at weigh in things weren't looking so bad. Other guys were having similar issues and my 2.45 pounder really helped. I finished in 7th place with 7.57lbs. Congrats to Chris on 1st place with 11 lbs and Jesse for big bass at 3.74lbs!  It was really tight again as 3rd - 13th place was separated by less than 2lbs.  Also everyone caught their limits. 

Overview

Wow, things did not turn out like I thought.  Which can easily happen in fishing.  I certainly didn't think it would be that difficult to get my limit.  I was very happy with 7th place the way my day went.  My big fish saved me.  I should have spent more time sight fishing since the water was so clear and that's how I caught my biggest fish.  They didn't seem very shy.  I also wish I had more practice time to look for more deep spots.  I think I also wasn't completely focused coming off the 3rd place finish the day before.  Overall, I lived to fish another day.  

Results

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